User equipment, network node, and methods for operating the same against maximum number of allowable radio bearers

1. A user equipment (UE), comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor operatively coupled with the memory and the transceiver, being capable of causing the UE to operate in a cellular communication mode, and being capable of causing the UE to operate in a Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) mode;

wherein the processor is configured to cause the UE to perform:

operating in the CIoT mode;

determining, out of at least one UE-data network logical connection, a first UE-data network logical connection in a first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection for which a radio bear request is to be made based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection being non-internet protocol (non-IP) to prevent more than a maximum number of allowable radio bearers for the UE to be requested; and

making the radio bearer request for the first UE-data network logical connection;

wherein the determining, out of a plurality of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made is based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of only the UE-data network logical connections;

the determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made is further based on a persistence precedence-related quality of service (QoS) parameter correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of a third set of the UE-data network logical connections having the highest persistence precedence; and

the first UE-data network logical connection is in the third set of the UE-data network logical connections.

2. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the radio bearer request is a UE-data network logical connection establishment or modification request.

3. The UE of claim 1 , wherein

each UE-data network logical connection of a second set of the UE-data network logical connections correspondingly has a UE-data network logical connection type being internet protocol (IP); and

the determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made comprises:

determining that the first set of the UE-data network logical connections considered as a higher radio bearer request priority than the second set of the UE-data network logical connections.

4. The UE of claim 1 , wherein the persistence precedence-related QoS parameter correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the third set of the UE-data network logical connections is 5G QoS indicator (5QI).

5. A network node for a cellular communication network, comprising:

a memory;

a transceiver; and

a processor operatively coupled with the memory and the transceiver, being capable of causing the network node to operate in a cellular communication mode, and being capable of causing the network node to operate in a Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) mode;

wherein the processor is configured to cause the network node to perform:

operating in the CIoT mode;

determining, out of at least one user equipment (UE)-data network logical connection for a UE, a first UE-data network logical connection in a first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection for which a radio bearer allocation acceptance is to be performed based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection of the at least one UE-data network logical connection being non-internet protocol (non-IP) to prevent more than a maximum number of allowable radio bearers for the UE to be allocated; and

performing the radio bearer allocation acceptance for the first UE-data network logical connection;

wherein the determining, out of a plurality of the UE-data network logical connections for the UE, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bearer allocation acceptance to be performed is based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of only the UE-data network logical connections;

the determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections for the UE, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bearer allocation acceptance to be performed is further based on a persistence precedence-related quality of service (QoS) parameter correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of a third set of the UE-data network logical connections having the highest persistence precedence; and

the first UE-data network logical connection is in the third set of the UE-data network logical connections.

6. The network node of claim 5 , wherein the radio bearer allocation acceptance is a UE-data network logical connection establishment or modification acceptance.

7. The network node of claim 5 , wherein

each UE-data network logical connection of a second set of the UE-data network logical connections correspondingly has a UE-data network logical connection type being internet protocol (IP); and

the determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections for the UE, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bearer allocation acceptance to be performed comprises:

determining that the first set of the UE-data network logical connections considered as a higher radio bearer allocation acceptance priority than the second set of the UE-data network logical connections.

8. A method for operating a user equipment (UE), comprising:

operating in a Cellular Internet of Things (CIoT) mode, wherein the UE is capable of operating in a cellular communication mode and is capable of operating in the CIoT mode;

determining, out of at least one UE-data network logical connection, a first UE-data network logical connection in a first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection for which a radio bear request is to be made based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection being non-internet protocol (non-IP) to prevent more than a maximum number of allowable radio bearers for the UE to be requested; and

making the radio bearer request for the first UE-data network logical connection;

wherein the step of determining, out of a plurality of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made is based on a UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of only the UE-data network logical connections;

the step of determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made is further based on a persistence precedence-related quality of service (QoS) parameter correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of a third set of the UE-data network logical connections having the highest persistence precedence; and

the first UE-data network logical connection is in the third set of the UE-data network logical connections.

9. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein the radio bearer request is a UE-data network logical connection establishment or modification request.

10. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein

each UE-data network logical connection of a second set of the UE-data network logical connections correspondingly has a UE-data network logical connection type being internet protocol (IP); and

the step of determining, out of the UE-data network logical connections, the first UE-data network logical connection in the first set of the UE-data network logical connections for which the radio bear request is to be made comprises:

determining that the first set of the UE-data network logical connections considered as a higher radio bearer request priority than the second set of the UE-data network logical connections.

11. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein the persistence precedence-related QoS parameter correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the third set of the UE-data network logical connections is 5G QoS indicator (5QI).

12. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein the CIoT mode is a Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) mode.

13. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein each UE-data network logical connection of the at least one UE-data network logical connection is a protocol data unit (PDU) session.

14. The method for operating the UE of claim 8 , wherein the UE-data network logical connection type correspondingly of each UE-data network logical connection of the first set of the at least one UE-data network logical connection that is non-IP is Ethernet.